Alès lies 40 kilometres (25 miles) north-northwest ofNîmes, on the left bank of the riverGardon d'Alès, which half surrounds it. It is located at the foot of theCévennes, near theCévennes National Park.Alès station has rail connections to Nîmes, Mende and Clermont-Ferrand.
Alès may be the modern successor ofArisitum, where, in about 570,Sigebert, King ofAustrasia, created abishopric. In his campaign against theVisigoths, theMerovingian kingTheudebert I (533–548) conquered part of the territory of the Diocese of Nîmes. His later successor Sigebert set up the new diocese, comprising fifteen parishes in the area controlled by theFranks, which included a number of towns to the north of theCevenne: Alès,Le Vigan,Arre,Arrigas,Meyrueis,Saint-Jean-du-Gard,Anduze, andVissec. The diocese disappeared in the 8th century with the conquest of the whole ofSeptimania by the Franks.[3][4] No longer a residential bishopric, Arisitum is today listed by theCatholic Church as atitular see.[5]
After theEdict of Nantes, Alès was one of theplaces de sûreté given to theHuguenots.Louis XIII took back the town in 1629, and thePeace of Alès, signed on 29 June of that year, suppressed the political privileges of the Protestants, while continuing to guarantee toleration.[6]
"The town is one of the most important markets for rawsilk andcocoons in the south of France, and the Gardon supplies power to numerous silk-mills. It is also the centre of a mineral field, which yields large quantities of coal, iron, zinc and lead; its blast-furnaces, foundries, glass-works and engineering works afford employment to many workmen."[6]
Historically, according to theEncyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition:
"The streets are wide and its promenades and fine plane-trees make the town attractive; but the public buildings, the chief of which are theSaint-Jean-Baptiste cathedral, a heavy building of the 18th century, and the citadel, which serves as barracks and prison, are of small interest."[6]
^Saltet, Louis (1902)."L'évêché d'Arisitum".Bulletin de littérature ecclésiastique, publié par l'Institut Catholique de Toulouse (in French).7–8:220–231.
^"Alès".Fédération d'Associations Eternel Alphonse Daudet (FederationAlphonseDaudet.fr) (in French). Archived fromthe original on 30 September 2020. Retrieved6 August 2020.
^"Town Twinning".east-ayrshire.gov.uk. East Ayrshire Council. Retrieved20 April 2021.
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